Any recent vistors to New Orleans?
 

I am headed for a long weekend on Sep 5.
We plan to walk the FQ, ride the trolly, do the WWII museum and eat cheap.
No tours, no fancy or expensive restaurants, no evening activities.
I know this is vague, but we are not highly organized travelers. On long weekend trips we go to bed very early and get up early. We also eat very light when we travel.
Suugestions of cheap and easy eats are appreciated.

On our list...
-Cafe Du Monde (been there, like that :) )
-Johnny's (Po Boy's for lunch)
-Central Grocery (possibly just for a look/see)
-Standard FQ sites/photo ops
-Trolley
-WWII Museum
-Harley Store

What we REALLY like is shopping. I like arty jewelry shops, open air markets and shops that sell small art-y doo-dads. No clothes, furniture or $$$ art.

Aside from what I have mentioned above, does anyone have any suggestions based on very recent experience?
Possibly specific shopping info?
I appreciate it!

PS... Is it safe to catch the Magazine St bus and walk the street?
If there are questionable sections, is it obvious?
Can I hop back on the bus to skip these areas?

I'll hop in here as we are returning in October but have not been in over a year. I'm curious about the F-M. Is Frenchmen St. fully recovered (if it was even effected)? Sorry TTP, don't want to hijack your thread but I'll be watching it closely. I know there are a lot of new restaurants popping up as well. Thx.

Any comments to either post are welcome :)
It's all good info!

Wellllll - let's see. We were there in May for the umpteenth (and yes, that is a word to me) time and enjoyed it so much that we're on our way back in September so here goes.
How about food at Acme Oyster House and Maspero's on Decatur? You can also have crepes at Petunia's for breakfast that are big enough for two people to split.
The French Market used to be good for shopping, but it's pretty much a yard sale now so I can't really help you there.

Another thing to keep in mind - you might want to call the streetcars just that instead of trolleys. It's really appreciated in New Orleans.

I've never visited Frenchman Street so that's out for me. That may be on our list for this visit though. Can anyone tell me what the best way is to get there and back from the middle of the Quarter? (Inn on Bourbon)

You have fun now and save some for us who are following soon! These kind of posts make me even more ready to be there.

The Faubourg-Marigny is located adjacent to the Quarter & the dividing line would be Esplanade. www.sunoaknola.com/faubourg_marigny.htm. If you are walking (from the Market area) take Decatur & right after Esplanade you'll hit Frenchmen. Dauphine is another street that goes straight over to it, w/out any change of course or jig-jogs. I have only visited the area once, & we actually had to cancel our reservations (a week after Katrina) as we had planned to stay there. Hence, the questions. I'm not certain if there may be any safety issues in getting from one (area) to the other either.

I would hit Cafe Beignet instead of Cafe Du Monde- the service was so bad we left (the waitress sat down and started reading a magazine, then got crabby when someone at another table asked for service). The Cafe Beignet people were very nice, the beignets are bigger and you don't have to sift through the powdered sugar to find them.

WINO (Wine Institute of New Orleans) was a lot of fun.

There's always Mother's for lunch.

If you are going for Beignets, I am also a fan of Cafe Beignet for breakfast. The hordes at Cafe Du Monde, just aren't worth it. It is a go once, been there, done that kind of place for me. I also like the Royal Tea room for a quick, yet relaxing breakfast locale.

Thanks SA, I will keep that thought since we are not too fond of hoards of tourists.

Ccolor... I literally just got back from San Diego and just crossed my words.
I doubt I would have any cause to actually say the word in New Orleans
To those that would be offended ... well... too bad for them that they actually waste mental space getting offended about such a thing!
If I lived in NO, I would be thrilled that someone has come to spend money in NO and not worry about such small trivial stuff!

I live in Sachse, Tx and most people mispronounce the name. Do I care? Heck no.

I was there over New Year's for the Sugar Bowl, and people there were indeed very grateful that we visited. We were thanked by everyone from our taxi driver in from the airport to people sitting next to us in restaurants. I've never been anywhere better for hospitality!

It's not fancy nor expensive, but is in a fancy hotel: we loved the oysters at Drago's in the Hilton Riverside Hotel. Had them almost every day that we were there and thought they were a great bargain (by Hawaii standards!).

TxTravelPro,

Since you wanted to eat on the cheap, here is a great suggestion:

You'll be able to dine at great restaurants for cheap if you take advantage of this deal:


http://www.neworleansonline.com/news...arysummer.html

With the beginning of the summer season in New Orleans, once again more than two dozen of the city’s famous restaurants are running their money-saving specials for lunch and dinner. It is known as A COOLinary Summer, and participating restaurants will offer three-course lunches at $20 or less and three-course dinners at $30 or less between July 1 and September 30.

This special event highlights the city's unparalleled lineup of restaurants and introduces foodies from all over to New Orleans unique Creole and Cajun cuisines, as well as to world-famous steakhouses and seafood bistros.

The participating restaurants, 28 in all, are as follows:

7 on Fulton
Bacco
Bayona
Bombay Club
Bourbon House Seafood
Brennan's Restaurant
Broussard's
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Cafe' Adelaide
Commander's Palace
Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse
Dominique's at the Maison Dupuy Hotel
Grand Isle
La Cote Brasserie
Le Cafe
Martinique Bistro
Maximo's Italian Grill
Melánge
Michaul's Live Music Restaurant
Mr. B's Bistro
Palace Cafe
Pascal's Manale
Red Fish Grill
Restaurant Cuvee
The Pelican Club
Tomatillos
Tujague's Restaurant
Wolfe's in the Warehouse

About Cafe Du Monde:

September is one of the "slow" months so you probably won't have to worry too much about crowds. Just remember that it is a "seat yourself" policy, so don't wait in line. Just head up there and get your own seat.

Cafe Du Monde is far better than Cafe Beignet, IMHO.

Magazine Street bus is fine and yes you can walk Magazine Street.

The answer about how you get to Marigny from the Quarter is you walk it :)